In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the world began to enter the Xiaoice era, the winter is relatively long and cold, the snow in the north is also ten earlier and more frequent, even in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, October (lunar calendar) snow is also common, and even in the Liangguang region, there will be heavy snow in winter, very perverted.

In the early morning of the sixth day of October in the fourth year of Jiajing, the snow over the capital became heavier and heavier, turning from scattered snow chips to heavy snowfall, and the northwest wind roared hysterically.

At this moment, it was close to the ugly time, and the light was still on in Fei Ge's study, and although there were two stoves in the room, the severe cold still made people feel numb in their hands and feet, and their faces and ears were also cold and swishing, and their breath was foggy.

Yang Yiqing listened to the sound of the wind and snow outside the window for a while, yawned, and smiled: "God is beautiful, this wind and snow is timely." ”

Xu Jin nodded, this blizzard is indeed very timely, because the wind and snow are a good cover, but the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion who have worked hard overnight have worked hard, I hope everything is safe.

Xu Jin, Yang Yiqing and Fei Hong sat around the bookcase, and a picture was spread out on the bookcase, which was the plane structure of the capital. After Wei Guogong Xu Pengju left, the three of them had been discussing for more than an hour, and now all the plans have been finalized, and the next step is to execute.

"Ziqian, wouldn't this be too risky?" Fei Hong frowned, a little uneasy.

After all, Yang Yiqing is an old man in his seventies, and he is obviously a little out of spirit until now, so he yawned again, and interjected with cloudy eyes: "Xu Ziqian's method is indeed a bit offensive, but if you don't enter the tiger's den, you can get the tiger, and it is just at this time to catch all the charms in Beijing." ”

Xu Jin said confidently: "The protégé will secretly enter the palace tomorrow to see the emperor and ensure that all arrangements are implemented to ensure that nothing goes wrong, and rest assured that by the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, the prince will lead an army of 200,000 to arrive in the capital." ”

Fei Hong nodded and said no more, fighting was not his forte, so he handed it over to Xu Jin and Yang Yiqing, both of whom were victorious generals who had experienced a hundred battles.

……

Chaoyang Gate is located in the east direction of the inner city, and is guarded by the Zhenwei Battalion of the 12th Regiment Battalion, and the governor of the camp is Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei.

Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, is a rich idler, all his thoughts are on doing business to make money, although he is the governor of the Zhenwei camp, but he usually ignores the camp affairs, and does not enter the camp several times a year. But tonight, Xu Pengju braved the wind and snow to come to Chaoyang Gate, and climbed the city tower, where he waited while roasting the fire.

The wind and snow on the head of the city were even greater, the northwest wind was like a ghost crying wolf, and Xu Peng, the Duke of Wei, was covered in mink fur and fox fur, like a bear curled up into a ball, with three braziers beside him, still shivering with cold.

At night, he was "invited" by Xu Jin to the city, but Xu Pengju did not dare to have any complaints, because he had a hunch that Xu cut off his head and secretly sneaked back to the capital, it is estimated that there will soon be a bloody storm in the capital, and I don't know how many people will fall to the ground, and fortunately, this is obviously not his business Wei Guogong, after all, Xu Jin asked him for "help", so staying in the city for a day is not necessarily a good thing for him!

Time passed minute by minute, about the end of the ugly hour, there was finally movement outside the city, and before Xu Pengju could make a move, a shiny big bald head walked in, it was Xu Jin's personal captain Zhao Datou, he arched his hand at Xu Peng and said: "The brothers of the Shenji Battalion have arrived outside the city, and Grandpa Lao Guo has ordered the opening of the city." ”

Xu Pengju nodded, showed the token and ordered Zhenwei Camp to open the city gate and let him go.

The city gate has been frozen by ice and snow, the defenders tossed nearly half a stick of incense time, the city gate of Chaoyang Gate finally opened slowly, and a fierce cavalry suddenly drove in quietly from the wind and snow, and it was the three thousand soldiers of the Shenji Battalion, as well as three thousand horsemen of the Jiangxi army, a total of more than 6,000 horses.

The Shenji Battalion was led by Wang Lin'er, while the Jiangxi Army was led by Yu Linsheng, and Yu Linsheng was also an old subordinate who had followed Xu Jin from birth to death.

The 3,000 Jiangxi troops in front of them were the same as the Shenji Battalion, and everyone was equipped with a pistol, and these pistols were all brought by Wang Shouren from the Nanjing Ordnance Bureau. In order to enter the king of Beijing this time, Lao Wang almost emptied the Nanjing Ordnance Bureau, in addition to the 8,000 pistols that had just been manufactured, there were also 300 brand-new Franc cannons, and countless firearms of all kinds.

Wang Shouren obviously also understood that it was difficult to defeat the powerful Tatar cavalry by relying on numerical superiority alone, and it was necessary to give full play to the advantages of firearms, so he brought all the firearms that he could use.

Maybe it's the providence of heaven in the dark, tonight's heavy snowstorm forced the Tartar scouts who were patrolling outside the city back to the camp to hide, so the Shenji Battalion and the Jiangxi Army were able to sneak into the city smoothly.

After the 6,000 men and horses of the Shenji Battalion and the Jiangxi Army infiltrated the city, Wang Lin'er immediately ordered to take control of Chaoyangmen and took over the city defense from the Zhenwei battalion, and all the soldiers of the Zhenwei battalion, including Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, were not allowed to leave Chaoyangmen without authorization.

……

On the morning of the sixth day of October, the snow stopped, the earth was covered in silver, and the sky was surprisingly blue, but the weather was particularly cold. The wind and snow were raging this night, and the snow inside and outside the palace was knee-high.

In Shouning Palace, the eunuchs and palace maids were busy sweeping the snow in the courtyard and corridors. Princess Yongfu and Princess Yongchun got up early in the morning to greet their mother, Empress Dowager Jiang, and the two princesses wore formal princess clothes today, with beautiful faces, white skin like snow, and a good demeanor, like a pair of beautiful people.

Looking at the pair of beautiful daughters in front of her, the frowning Empress Dowager Jiang showed a little joy, ordered the palace people to pass the meal, and then had breakfast with Yongfu and Yongchun. Empress Dowager Jiang obviously had a bad appetite, so she just ate a few bites of millet porridge and then stopped eating, and her eyes drifted out of the door from time to time.

Princess Yongfu was smart, so she naturally understood what her mother was worried about, and said lightly: "The emperor should also go down to the early court, and it is estimated that it will not be long before he comes over to ask the queen mother for peace." ”

Empress Dowager Jiang sighed and said, "Today is the deadline given by the Tartars, and I don't know how the emperor replied to the Tartars." ”

Princess Yongchun's two willow eyebrows were vividly raised: "Needless to say, the imperial brother must have sternly rejected the rude request of the Tartars, and the barbarian country still wants to marry my Princess Daming, it's just a toad who wants to eat swan meat - whimsical!" ”

"Alas, what if the Tartars attack the city with an army of more than 100,000 people!" Empress Dowager Jiang said worriedly.

As a mother, Empress Dowager Jiang naturally did not want to send her daughter to peace, but she was more worried about the fall of the Ming Dynasty and her son becoming a sinner for the ages who lost the country.

Princess Yongfu had mixed feelings in her heart, bit her cherry lip and comforted softly: "Queen Mother, if you can keep the Ming Dynasty, Yongfu is willing to marry that Bodi Khan." ”

"Nonsense!" As soon as Princess Yongfu finished speaking, she saw Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi walking in with an angry face.

"See the emperor!" A group of palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

Princess Yongfu and Princess Yongchun also stood up and saluted, "I've seen the royal brother!" ”

"Excuse me!" Zhu Houxi waved his hand and saluted the Empress Dowager Jiang again, and then taught him with a straight face: "Sister Yongfu." No harmony, no land, no compensation, the Son of Heaven guards the country, and the king dies. Have you forgotten this ancestral precept set by Taizong? Although I am not pretty, I can't do this kind of promising ancestral training, and I lose power and humiliate the country, and I ask Sister Yongfu not to humiliate me again. ”

Princess Yongchun stuck out her tongue, and Yongfu's pretty face was swollen and red: "The emperor has taught him a lesson, and Yongfu is here to compensate the emperor." ”

Empress Dowager Jiang was both relieved and entangled when she saw her son so backbone, and wanted to say that people had to bow their heads under the eaves, but in the end the words came to her mouth and swallowed back, and said with a smile: "It's even good that the emperor has this ambition, Yongfu is also for the sake of the Ming Dynasty's Jiangshan Sheji, and the emperor must not be angry with her." ”

Zhu Houxi sighed and said: "Where am I angry with Sister Yongfu, I am angry with myself, I blame myself for being self-righteous, not believing Xu Jin's words, and even causing the catastrophe of the country today, everything is my fault!" ”

"People are not sages, who can do no wrong, the emperor should not blame himself, the plan now is to prepare how to deal with the attack of the Tartars, and wait for the arrival of King Qin's soldiers and horses." Princess Yongfu hurriedly comforted.

Zhu Houxi perked up when he heard this: "There was a heavy snowfall last night, God really bless me Daming, now the city wall is frozen, it is difficult for apes to climb, and it will be even more difficult for the Tartars to break through the inner city, at the latest tomorrow afternoon, Xu Jin will lead the army to arrive, and the capital will be safe at that time!" ”

Empress Dowager Jiang was overjoyed when she heard this: "This is very good, God bless me Daming!" ”

At this time, a little eunuch walked in and reported: "The Queen Mother, the Imperial Eunuch's Huang Gonggong is here and brought ten honeycomb coal stoves, saying that the Queen Mother ordered them." ”

Empress Dowager Jiang was stunned for a moment: "The mourning family didn't want a honeycomb explosion, so let's send it, let him bring it in, it just so happens that the weather is also cold." ”

A moment later, the eunuch Huang Jin led in with ten eunuchs, each carrying a honeycomb coal stove.

It is said that Huang Jin was almost killed by Jiajing because Xue Bingxin was found to be the daughter of King Anhua, but fortunately he was clever enough to pick up his life, and then Xu Jin salted fish turned over, and Huang Jin also resumed his position as the royal eunuch.

"See the emperor, the queen mother and the two princesses!" Huang Jin came in and fell to his knees.

However, at this time, Zhu Houxi, this kid, seemed to have been under a immobilization spell, staring straight at the handsome eunuch behind Huang Jin.

This "eunuch" is holding a honeycomb coal stove in his hand, with a familiar smile on his face, it is Xu Jin!!

Xu Jin took off the eunuch's hat, put down the honeycomb coal stove, knelt on the ground with the hem of his clothes, and said loudly: "Minister Xu Jin, see the emperor, the queen mother, and the two princesses!" ”

"Ahh Yongfu and Yongchun covered their mouths and exhaled softly, and Empress Dowager Jiang was also dumbfounded.

Zhu Houxi's face was swollen red, and he stepped forward to help Xu Jin up, almost pinching the latter's neck and said excitedly: "Xu Qing...... Is it really you? ”